A/N: Hey guys! Before I start, I just wanna shout out to a couple authors whose comments and support inspire and motivate my work. Special thanks to polarbear 20000 and Oneshotforlife! Anyways, this is another story based on a challenge given by whencowsfly06.
Prompt: "Hurry up and run, you blundering fool!"
Word count: 2346
So, on with the story!
"Hurry up and run, you blundering fool!"
Sirius Black hissed over his shoulder as he ran down the halls of Hogwarts, with his best friend, James Potter, at his side.
"huff - Running - huff" Peter Pettigrew puffed from behind them.
"I knew we should've brought the Invisibility Cloak!" Remus Lupin whispered from ahead. His lycanthropy had always made him faster than the others. "But no!" He huffed a breath.
"So," James panted. "Slight - huff - misjudgment on my part."
"Misjudgment?" Remus started to slow. "You said the prank would be quick, and the disillusion charms would hold! You said you tested this!"
"Listen!" Sirius suddenly stopped. The Marauders strained to hear the telltale footsteps of the castle's caretaker, Argus Filch, or his annoying cat over the sound of their own heavy breathing.
"I - huff - think we - huff - lost him!" Peter managed.
"'Course we did!" James said proudly. "No one knows this school better than us!"
A soft meow came from the hall in front of them.
"Come now, Mrs. Norris!" Came the gleeful voice of Filch. "We've almost caught those students out of bed! Detentions to be handed out, yes!"
"Except Filch!" Remus hissed sharply.
"Come on!" Sirius whispered urgently. "There's a passage down this way that'll bring us out near the DADA office."
"That's five floors below, and on the opposite side from the Gryffindor Common room!" Remus remarked incredulously.
"It'll still get us out of the dungeons and away from Filch." James pointed out.
Another meow came, closer this time. Without another word, the Marauders ran for the passage. They reached the entrance, which opened with a tapped pattern. Sirius tapped the pattern and the wall swung inwards, revealing a hall, lit by torches and ending in a twisting staircase. They crept inside and Peter swung the door closed behind them.
"Now that we're out of immediate danger," Remus started as they hurried up the stairs. "What did happen to those disillusion charms, James?"
"I dunno." James looked pensive. "They should've held. My spells - huff - don't usually wear off like that."
"Just had to be today, didn't it?" Remus shook his head.
"It wasn't my fault!"
"Will you two quit bickering?" Sirius' voice came from above. "These walls aren't sound proof!"
They continued the rest of the way in silence, waiting for Peter to catch up when they reached the top.
Sirius put his ear to the door.
"I think we're clear." He murmured over his shoulder. He tapped the pattern to open the door and the wall swung inward. They carefully crept out of the passage and into the empty hall.
"Let's head back to Gryffindor Tower while we still can." James muttered to the others.
"Can we - huff - stop at the kitchens on the way?" Peter whispered, still out of breath. "All that running really works up an appetite.
"Really Pete?" Sirius deadpanned.
"We can still get caught out here!" James reminded the youngest Marauder.
"No worries," Remus put an arm around Peter's shoulders. You can have a few chocolate frogs from my stash."
Peter beamed at the young werewolf.
CRASH!
"PEEVES!" Filch roar carried through the empty halls.
"How did he get up here so quickly?!" Peter whispered frantically.
"He's been at this school for who knows how long." Remus pointed out. "Makes sense for him to know a few shortcuts." He turned towards the others. "Any other secret passages that can get us out of here?" He raised an eyebrow.
"There's the one under the Swiveling Staircase that opens up behind the Three Broomsticks." James suggested.
"Upon my authority as a prefect, we are not going into Hogsmeade!" Remus snapped.
"It's either that or get caught by Filch." James shrugged.
"Unless there's another passage we can use?" Peter looked hopeful.
Peeves' high-pitched laughter filled the corridor.
"Filchie's running 'round the school!" He signsonged. "Looking for something, are we?"
"That's none of your business, you pest!" FIlch shouted at him.
"He's gonna get it now!" James muttered excitedly.
"Pay attention!" Remus hissed at the young ravenette. "We're supposed to be thinking of a way out of here!"
"Sorry," James grumbled. "But you try focusing while Peeves and Filch are yelling at each other!"
Filch's enraged roar was heard next.
"He's going to be in a bad mood when he finds us." Peter squeaked.
"What about the vanishing step staircase behind the tapestry near Ravenclaw Tower?" Sirius suggested.
"Filch knows that one." Remus shook his head.
"It'll still keep us from getting caught coz he's coming right now!" James pointed at the shadow of Filch coming around the bend.
The Marauders ran for Ravenclaw Tower and their new escape plan.
"Which - huff - step is the - huff - trick one again?" Peter puffed from behind the others.
"The middle one." Remus whispered over his shoulder.
They made it to the tapestry with only moments to spare. They had all pushed past it and up the first steps as Filch's steps pounded into the corridor.
"Remus," James hissed suddenly. "Didn't you say Filch knows about this staircase?"
The boys all froze.
"We'll get off on the third floor and run to the Charms Corridor." Remus strategized. "We can take the shortcut to Gryffindor Tower."
"But if Filch catches us in the staircase, we're dead!" Sirius moaned.
Said caretaker was now at the base of the stairs, just behind the tapestry. The boys ran up the staircase with a renewed energy, narrowly avoiding falling through the vanishing step. They got off on the landing of the third floor and sprinted for the Charms Corridor. They tried not to think of what would happen if Filch caught them in the staircase near Gryffindor Tower, so close to their escape.
They had almost reached the shortcut at the entrance to the Charms Corridor when they ran into the most unhelpful person they possibly could in their current predicament: Peeves.
The Marauders were only alerted to his presence when he came down from behind them and lifted an unsuspecting Remus up off the ground.
"AA - umph!" Remus cut off his cry of surprise by clamping his only free hand over his mouth. Peeves was carrying him upside down, jerking him around while spinning in circles.
"Students out of bed so late!" Peeves cheered in his annoying singsong voice. "Filchie's not going to like this! OI! FILCH! I lookie what I've got!"
"We're dead!" Sirius clutched at his hair and fell to his knees. For once, James didn't call him off for being dramatic.
They had lost.
"There's got to be something we can do!" Peter whispered frantically.
"Like what?" Sirius snapped, turning to face him. "Learn to walk through walls?"
"We need to disappear." Peter closed his eyes. A moment later, he opened them again.
"What about disillusion charms?"
"Coz those worked so well last time!" Sirius glared at James.
"That wasn't my fault!" James defended. "But… If I don't cast them…"
Sirius whipped out his wand and cast a disillusion charm on Remus, which was much harder than he thought with Peeves shaking him about. He also silenced him for good measure, though he was doing an excellent job of staying quiet. He disillusioned himself and the others just as Mrs. Norris came padding into the hall, with her owner right on her tail.
"I caught a student out of beeeed!" Peeves sang, arms still wrapped around what looked like empty air.
"Don't waste my time, Peeves!" Filch snapped at the poltergeist as he made for the other end of the corridor.
"Don't believe little old me?" Peeves cried in mock hurt. "Then catch!"
He threw the invisible Remus at the back of the caretaker. James and Sirius had their wands out at once, just as Filch turned around to see what Peeves had thrown. James cast a non-verbal Arresto Momentum while Sirius cast a non-verbal Accio on Remus' sweater, causing Remus to come flying towards them as well. Remus got to his feet, swaying slightly. He had removed the silencing charm.
"Th-thanks." Remus murmured shakily.
"You alright?" James asked, concern lacing his voice.
"F-fine. Just a little diz-dizzy." Remus shook his head. "Let's get out of here."
Still invisible, the boys slipped into the shortcut and made for the staircase at the end of the hall. They climbed the staircase, elated that they had made it. They just had to reach the top of the stairs and get to the Fat Lady. They were almost there! Sirius grinned at James while Remus threw an arm across Peter's shoulders. That had been some night!
They were feeling quite good until they made it halfway between the sixth and seventh floors.
"They're coming, Mrs. Norris!" Filch whispered loudly. "It's those Gryffindor troublemaker brats, I just know it!"
"What are the odds!" Remus whispered in exasperation as Sirius moaned "The world is against us!"
"This is starting to get ridiculous." James grumbled under his breath. "What now? We can't go up, and going down means more of a chance to get caught!"
Remus shook his head. "We're trapped."
"We've had far too many detentions this year," Sirius moaned "and the term's only just begun! We'll all be expelled!"
"Shut up!" Remus and James hissed in unison.
The three boys jumped when the door to the seventh floor landing opened up behind Filch. The disgruntled caretaker spun on his heels and ran out the door yelling "Come back here! You're in big trouble!"
Once the coast was clear, Peter lit his wand, as he was not good at removing a disillusion charm yet.
"That was bloody brilliant!" James breathed in awe.
"How did you do that?" Sirius shook his head.
"If there's one thing I'm good at, it's escaping." Peter smirked invisibly.
"You never cease to amaze us." Remus patted his back. "Let's get moving, shall we?"
"But we can't go to Gryffindor Common Room yet." James pointed out. "Filch is probably waiting for us at the Fat Lady!"
"Then where do we go?" Peter asked, worried.
"There's only one place we can go to hide." Sirius paused dramatically. "The Room of Requirement."
He led the way down the corridor, heading in the opposite direction from Gryffindor Common Room. He walked past the entrance three times, asking for a place they could spend the night. The door opened and the Marauder went inside. They undid the disillusion charms as they took in their surroundings. The room was not too much bigger than their own dorm room. There were four four-poster beds near the far wall, arranged the way their own beds were in their dorm room. A set of pajamas were on each bed, just the right size for each boy. The middle of the room had a circular rug with four squashy chairs facing the fireplace on the right wall. The left wall had a bookshelf full of novels and volumes of enchantments. The Marauders grinned at each other.
"This will do quite nicely!" James said cheerfully.
The boys changed into pajamas and each claimed a squashy chair, Remus pulling up a book to read.
"That was a crazy night, wasn't it?" Peter asked, yawning widely.
"Definitely." Sirius agreed. "It's a good thing no one knows the school like we do!"
"Yeah!" James jumped to his feet. "We rule this school!"
"How do we rule it?" Peter asked, amused. "Are we kings, emperors, or what?"
"We're kings, of course!" James pulled Sirius to his feet, spinning him in a royal dance.
"And, pray tell," Remus looked up from his book. "When do you plan on making Evans your queen?"
Sirius and Peter laughed when James turned red, folding his arms over his chest and sitting down hard in his chair.
A moment after the laughter died down, his face turned wistful.
"With a queen like Evans, I could rule the world!" He murmured.
"You've got to get her to be your queen first!" Sirius teased. James threw a pillow at him.
"I think I found why our disillusion charms wore off!" Remus suddenly cried from his seat.
"Pray, tell!" Sirius sat up, interested to hear why they had failed in the first place.
"It says here that certain wards can be placed around a location which can reveal a hidden person, or undo any concealment spell." Remus explained. "Like a Thief's Downfall."
"That must be what happened." James snapped his fingers. "I mean, none of us undid the spells."
"Well, we just have to avoid the end of the dungeons then." Sirius shrugged.
"Or, we could avoid pranking the Slytherins." Remus raised an eyebrow.
James pouted at him.
"How can you even think about pranking anyone with OWLs coming up?!" Remus continued, ignoring James' puppy eyes.
"The terms only just started!" Sirius cried incredulously.
"Why did you have the need to prank the Slytherins anyways?" Peter asked.
"Because Regulus was being a prat!" Sirius replied hotly.
"And Snivellus needed a lesson!" James added.
"And Slytherin has almost caught up to us in Quidditch last year!"
"So, in other words, you were bored?" Remus asked innocently.
Peter laughed as the other two boys yelled indignantly.
A couple hours later, as the boys headed off to bed, Peter spoke up suddenly.
"Can't we ask the Room to let us out across from the Fat Lady? I'm sure Filch was given up by now." Sirius and James shared a look of surprise while Remus mentally facepalmed for not thinking of that sooner.
"We probably should." James sighed. " We have class tomorrow, and the others might notice us missing from the dorms."
"Or," Sirius rolled his eyes. "We could ask the Room for whatever we need and exit near the classroom? What do we have first, anyway?"
"I think it's Herbology." Peter chimed up from under his blanket.
"There you go!" Sirius told James as he climbed into his own bed. "Night!"
"Good night." Remus murmured sleepily.
The Grey Lady smirked invisibly from her vantage point. The boys had gotten to safety after all, but their prank had been prevented. Time to tell Filius that his protective wards around the Slytherin Common Room were a success.
A/N: There we go! Thanks so much for reading my story! You know the drill, please let me know if you liked it, disliked it, or if any of my characters were OOC (and how). This one's also is not betaed, so please, bear with me in terms of grammatical errors. I'd love to hear you feedback, so please do review!
- Raven.